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The research reports here, excerpted and edited by Barron's, were issued recently by investment and research firms. Many may be obtained through Thomson Reuters at thomson.com/financial or 800-638-8241. Some are available in the company-research area of WSJ.com, or through Factiva.com. Some of the reports' issuers have provided, or hope to provide, investment-banking or other services to the companies being analyzed.

We see material upside from current levels as investors gain confidence in the company's profit-improvement goals and fiscal-year 2013 earnings guidance; we are also looking, generally, for growth in large-cap transport sector earnings. As confidence improves, we believe FedEx will regain its historical positioning, relative to UPS and the broader market. Price target: $115.

Southwest AirlinesLUV 1.1088709677419355%Southwest Airlines Co.U.S.: NYSEUSD50.15
0.551.1088709677419355%
/Date(1481300860469-0600)/
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
1247464
P/E Ratio
14.336182336182336Market Cap
30533660974.7345
Dividend Yield
0.794912559618442% Rev. per Employee
409798More quote details and news »LUVinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
• LUV-NYSE Overweight • Price $9.84 on Dec. 10 by Barclays Equity Research Our analysis of U.S. Department of Transportation data for second-quarter 2012 points to sizable earnings improvement in Southwest's least profitable markets, which we view as the benefits of strategic initiatives centered on the integration of its fleet and AirTran's. As we look to the company's investor day, we expect to hear further details around the strategic initiatives.

In our view, an underappreciated aspect is how these initiatives tangibly re-allocate LUV's flying, thereby aiding a financial catch-up to improved industry returns. We remain buyers of LUV as re-allocated flying looks to have more impact than we'd initially estimated in our April 2012 upgrade. Price target: $12.

We forecast 6.5% sales growth (versus 5.5% consensus) and 12.5% EPS growth in 2013 (versus 10% consensus). Gross-margin expansion is the primary driver of the operating leverage in our model. We are forecasting 120 basis points (1.2 percentage points) of gross-margin expansion owing to the deflationary trends on cocoa beans and sugar, and the positive impact of Hershey's product mix and volume.

Our Nielsen data indicate that volume trends are accelerating as consumers adjust to higher price points. Hershey's retail sales grew 12% in the four-week period ended Nov. 24, and 5% in the 12-week, despite disruption from Hurricane Sandy. We believe many families in the Northeast (including ours) had to restock their Halloween candy when their neighborhoods pushed back trick-or-treating by a week and their children ate the first batch they were trying to save.

Corningglw -1.507234726688103%Corning Inc.U.S.: NYSEUSD24.505
-0.375-1.507234726688103%
/Date(1481300866559-0600)/
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
1357398
P/E Ratio
12.478998014357721Market Cap
23666476594.2784
Dividend Yield
2.2031823745410035% Rev. per Employee
255938More quote details and news »glwinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
• GLW-NYSE Underweight • Price $12.63 by Morgan Stanley The U.S. TV market is likely to remain sluggish for the foreseeable future, as consumers consider their most recent TV to have a lot of life left in it, and as there are fewer consumers who plan to buy a TV next year (11%) than consumers who purchased one in the past year (12%). A whopping 54% of U.S. consumers bought a TV in the past one to four years (corresponding to 2008 to 2011), and we believe we are at least a few years away from these consumers upgrading to a new one.

We believe the U.S. TV replacement cycle continues to stand at nine years, as the average U.S. consumer last purchased a TV 4.2 years ago, and expects to buy a new one in 4.8 years. At its 2011 analyst day, Corning showed a nine-year CRT (cathode ray tube) TV-replacement cycle potentially shrinking to six years for newer LCD (liquid-crystal display) TVs. Our survey, however, shows the cycle standing firm at nine years, and we remain firmly convinced that U.S. LCD TV retail sales are unlikely to fundamentally improve over the next several years—a significant headwind for GLW.

Under Armour
• UA-NYSE Buy • Price $51.31 on Dec. 11 by Sterne Agee Buy UA on weakness. The company continues to make headway with footwear. Apparel continues to expend as well in all channels. Material incremental growth in 2013 expected in athletic-specialty and department-store channels. Upgrading key personnel has been standard operating procedure at UA and has proved effective. Slow international expansion will prove to be a long-term positive.

The company's compelling story is intact: Under Armour is a young brand, and young people are growing up with it. Who in the late 1970s, other than maybe Phil Knight, would have thought
NikeNKE 0.2962172647914646%Nike Inc. Cl BU.S.: NYSEUSD51.7027
0.15270.2962172647914646%
/Date(1481300864581-0600)/
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
1028578
P/E Ratio
23.33783783783784Market Cap
85840131181.9595
Dividend Yield
1.3896931094383325% Rev. per Employee
467369More quote details and news »NKEinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
would become a $25 billion brand? We are not saying that UA can get to where Nike is, but if it continues to act methodically, it has a long runway.

There are few growth stories of this caliber. We believe that the future will show that today's price near $50 would have been a great entry point. Our price target: $64.

Alerealr -0.34805890227576974%Alere Inc.U.S.: NYSEUSD37.22
-0.13-0.34805890227576974%
/Date(1481300826541-0600)/
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
34723
P/E Ratio
N/AMarket Cap
3249561855.69306
Dividend Yield
N/ARev. per Employee
260319More quote details and news »alrinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
• ALR-NYSE Strong Buy • Price $19.07 on Dec. 12 by Raymond James On Dec. 12, Alere announced the hiring of Namal Nawana as its new chief operating officer, effective Dec. 30. While the announcement was largely expected, based on management's 3Q12 conference call commentary, we view the addition as a positive development nonetheless, given Mr. Nawana's extensive background at Johnson & Johnson, where he has earned a reputation as a global operations leader focused on scaling businesses profitably. We have long argued that Alere has a significant opportunity to better leverage its global footprint given the magnitude of M&A over the past five years, and we believe today's announcement puts the company on the right track to improve profitability metrics and cash flow over time as initiatives are put into place over the next 12 to 18 months. Net-net, while Alere remains a "show me" story following recent earnings disappointments, we believe the hiring of a COO is the first step at restoring investor credibility, with 2013 set to be a better year, relative to 2012. We are maintaining our price target of $25.

Progressivepgr -0.1395007342143906%Progressive Corp.U.S.: NYSEUSD34.0025
-0.0475-0.1395007342143906%
/Date(1481300860832-0600)/
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
172515
P/E Ratio
20.38323353293413Market Cap
19759214141.6168
Dividend Yield
2.609283196239718% Rev. per Employee
796081More quote details and news »pgrinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
• PGR-NYSE Hold • Price $21.48 on Dec. 12 by Sandler O'Neill Progressive reported November operating earnings per share of 12 cents versus our estimate of 15 cents. There was no monthly consensus estimate available. The earnings miss, relative to our estimate, was primarily driven by a worse-than-expected underwriting performance (a combined ratio of 93.6% versus our estimate of 91.9%) along with lower-than-expected earned premiums and investment income. While the company's combined ratio was below its 96% goal, it was elevated from the 90.1% it reported in November 2011 even after excluding the impact from additional Hurricane Sandy catastrophe losses. To incorporate the worse-than-expected November monthly earnings result, we are reducing our 2012 EPS estimate to $1.17 from $1.20; this compares to the current consensus of $1.14. We are maintaining our 2013 EPS estimate of $1.43, with the current consensus at $1.44, and we are maintaining our 2014 EPS estimate of $1.56, with the current consensus at $1.64. Our 12-month price target: $23.

We continue to believe that the company has a lot of value and numerous growth initiatives, including the Saudi Arabian [joint venture]. We believe GEF can be bought aggressively on the 2013 guidance. Our 12-month price target: $60.

Coinstarcstr 0.5076142131979695%CapStar Financial Holdings Inc.U.S.: NasdaqUSD19.8
0.10.5076142131979695%
/Date(1481300774241-0600)/
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
383
P/E Ratio
N/AMarket Cap
220462708.237457
Dividend Yield
N/ARev. per Employee
N/AMore quote details and news »cstrinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
• CSTR-Nasdaq Buy • Price $51.96 on Dec.13 by B. Riley We continue to be increasingly encouraged about the untapped market opportunities remaining for both the Redbox and coin-counting divisions domestically (increased monetization of existing kiosks), the potential to take physical rental kiosks into international markets, and the contribution potential for the new kiosk ventures over the next three-to-five years.

In particular, we are anticipating the near-term launch of Redbox Instant—the streaming/DVD subscription plan ("Redbox Instant by
VerizonVZ -0.11832583610404851%Verizon Communications Inc.U.S.: NYSEUSD51.0695
-0.0605-0.11832583610404851%
/Date(1481300859944-0600)/
Volume (Delayed 15m)
:
1096099
P/E Ratio
14.863372093023257Market Cap
208438302471.991
Dividend Yield
4.517895560336397% Rev. per Employee
719719More quote details and news »VZinYour ValueYour ChangeShort position
") that was originally announced in February and is currently scheduled for full public launch in early 2013. The potential of both the international markets and the joint venture with Verizon will drive increasing long-term profitability, as well as smooth out seasonal rental variances.

We are reiterating our Buy rating, and announce a price target of $80.